Automatic message accounting system



Nov. 22, 1949 c. F. SEIBEL 2,488,607

AUTOMATIC MESSAGE ACCOUNTING SYSTEM Filed Dec. 23, 1944 I l l lEl ="-i LM(A l )l'l g IIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIlllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllilhllIHlNl ENTOR C. E SE IBE L KQ QZQ ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 22, 1949 AUTOMATICMESSAGE ACCOUNTING SYSTEM Charles F. Seibel, Glen Rock, N. J., assignorto Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., acorporation of New York Application December 23, 1944, Serial No.569,513

6. Claims.

This invention relates to testing and control devices and particularlyto means for checking the step-by-step advance of a rotar mechanism.

In automatic ticketing equipment of the type adapted for use intelephone systems and comprising a tape recorder for recording variousitems involved in determining charges for telephone. calls, it isessential that the tape be advanced after the recording of each item ofinformation and that further recording be prevented in case the tapeadvance mechanism fails to operate. Objects of the invention are toprovide means for checking the step-by-step ad- Vance of rotarymechanisms and to provide, in connection with a tape recorder, means forpreventing further recording in case of failure to advance the tapeafter an item of information has been recorded.

The invention is a testing arrangement for checking the step-by-stepoperation of a rotary device. Features of the invention are the checkingof the operation of the tape advance mechanism of; a tape recorder andthe control of the.

recorder to prevent reoperation until the tape has been advanced aftereach recording operation.

For a further description of the invention and its features, referencemay be had to the drawing which. represents schematically a 1'0- tarymechanism and one arrangement for checking its step-by-stepv advance.The invention is, however, not limited in its application to thespecificforms of rotary mechanism and checking means shown in the drawing.

Fig. 1 shows a rotary mechanism for step-bye step advancing thev tape ofa tape recorder in the automatic ticketing equipment of an automatictelephone system and circuit testing means T for checking the advance ofthe mechanism;

Fig. 2 is another view of the pawl, toothed wheel and contact springsShown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 shows a modification of the wheel H oi;

The rotary mechanism which is adapted to advance the tape of a taperecorder may be similar to, that of the rotary selector disclosed in thepatent to G. K. Hess No. 1,655,059, granted January 3, 1928. Itcomprises a fixed shaft H], a toothed wheel, II, a pawl l and a steppingmagnet l2. The pawl I5 is normally held in en? gagement with the toothedwheel II by a retractile spring Hi. When the armature l3- is actuated bythe energization of the winding of stepping magnet 1.2, the pawl i5 iswithdrawn from. Qll agengrent: with the toothed wheel. l t,

2. thereby increasing the tension of the spring l4 and the pawl dropsdown into alignment with the next tooth of wheel ll. When the steppingmagnet releases, the spring M pulls the pawl- 15. into engagement withthe next tooth of wheel H thereby advancing the tape feeding mechanismone step. One side of wheel II- has a circle of raised segments it whichare engaged: in succession by the curved end of a contact springll.There is a raised segment 16 for each. tooth of wheel 5 l and thesegments are so spaced with respect to the teeth that the end of springI] rests between segments when the wheel is in any position of rest. Thespring I! is actuated into engagement with another contact spring i8whenever the wheel Ii has been moved out of one position of rest and hasnot reached the next position of rest. While not shown in the drawing,the shaft It carries the tape feeding drum of a tape recorder wherebythe tape is.

advanced each time the wheel H is stepped from one position to the nextby the operation and release of stepping magnet I2.

The above-described rotary mechanism is a part of a tape recorder in anautomatic tele-. phone system which is seized when some item ofinformation relating to a call then in progress is to be recorded.Reference may be had to the patent to W. W. Carpenter and W. H. MatthiesNo. 2,112,951, granted April 5, 19.38 for a complete disclosure of arecorder equipment and those parts of a telephone system which cooperatetherewith to make the necessary records for call charging purposes. Whenthe recorder is seized and a test circuit for a chain of perforatormagnets (not shown) is closed, a timing relay [9 in the recorderoperates to close a circuit for operating the paper advance steppingmagnet l2. a circuit for operating relay 2!} of the testing means T.When the perforator magnets have been operated and have had time torelease, the timing relay l9 releases thereby releasing step." pingmagnet i2 whereby the wheel H and tape drum of the recorder are advancedone step. As soon as the wheel H is advanced out of a posi-. tion ofrest by the release of stepping magnet I2, contact spring H is actuatedb an interposition raised segment 16 to make contact with the spring I8thereby closing a circuit for discharging condenser 2| and forenergizing the right winding of relay 22. If the advance of wheel H tothe next position of; rest is not com-. pleted, the circuit throughsprings I1, I8 is closed long enough to effect the operation of relay22;;

The operation of relay 19 also closes and, if the advance to the nextposition is completed without delay so that springs l1, l8 are onlymomentarily closed, the energization of the winding of relay 22 ismaintained by current charging condenser 2| long enough to eifect theoperation of relay 22. In either case, relay 22 closes a locking circuitthrough its left winding and inner front contacts, thence through afront contact of relay 29 and a back contact of relay I9. Relay 20 issomewhat slow in releasing so that relay 22 will be held operated by itslocking winding for an interval long enough for wheel H to havecompleted a step from one position to the next. With relay 22 operated,the ground at the upper back contact of relay I9 is connected throughthe front contact of relay 29, locking contact of relay 22, conductor23, and continuity back contact of rela 25 to the winding of relays 25and 21. Relay 25 operates, but relay 21 does not operate at this timebecause its winding is short-circuited through its upper back contact.The aforementioned operation of relay 22 also closes a circuit foroperating relay 24, but relay 24 is slow in operating so that relay 25operates and opens its lower back contact before relay 24 closes itsupper front contact. When operated, relay 24 locks under control ofrelay l9. The winding of relay 2'! continues to be short circuited,after relay 25 is operated, until relay 29 releases; at which time, thewheel II should have completed its advance into the next position ofrest. If the wheel I! has not yet reached the next position of rest,relay 22 is held operated by the continued energization of its rightwinding. But, if the wheel H has reached the next position of rest,spring I! is no longer engaging spring [8 so that the operating circuitthrough the right winding of relay 22 is opened; and consequently therelease of relay 2!] causes the release of rela 22. In either case, therelease of relay 20 also disconnects ground from conductor 23; and relay2! is thereupon operatively energized in series with resistor 28 and theupper front contact of relay 25. The operation of relay 2! prepares ashort-circuit for relay 25 and further opens the short-circuitpreviously existing across its own winding. If, when relay 21 operates,relay 22 has released due to the wheel I I having been advanced to thenext position of rest, a connection is closed from ground at the backcontact of relay 22 through a front contact of relay 24 and throughfront contacts of both of relays 2'! and 25, to conductor 29 to operatea relay 39 and thereby render the recorder effective to record the nextitem of information. But, if relay 22 is held operated because theadvance of wheel H to the next position has not been completed, theoperation of relay 2! is ineifective to complete the connection ofground to conductor 29 and the recorder is unable to record another itemof information.

After relay 30 of the recorder has operated, due to the connection ofground to conductor 29, and as soon as the aforementioned check circuitfor the perforator magnets is closed, the timing relay I9 is againoperated, as described in the abovementioned Carpenter-Matthies patent.The operation of relay I9 causes the release of relay 24, thereoperation of rela 20 and the reoperation of stepping magnet l2. Therelease of relay 24 disconnects ground from conductor 29. At the end ofan interval long enough for the perforator magnets to have releasedafter recording a second item of information, relay l9 releases. Therelease of relay I9 causes the release of stepping magnet I 2 to advancewheel H to the next position. When wheel ll moves out of the position inwhich the second item of information was recorded, spring I1 is actuatedby the next interposition segment l6 to engage spring l8 so thatcondenser 2| is discharged and the right winding of relay 22 isoperatively energized as hereinbefore described. Relay 22 again closes alocking circuit through its left winding, closes a circuit for operatingrelay 24 and reconnects ground to conductor 23 thereby short-circuitingthe Winding, and causing the release, of relay 25. The aforementionedrelease of relay 1 9 also opens the operating circuit of relay 29, butrelay 20 is slow in releasing so that the locking circuit of relay 22 isclosed long enough to release relay 25 and long enough for wheel I tohave been advanced to the next position. Since relay 24 is slow inoperating, relay 25 releases and opens its lower front contact beforerelay 24 closes its upper front contact. After relay 25 releases, relay2'! is held operated through the continuity back contact of relay 25 tothe grounded conductor 23. When relay 20 releases, ground isdisconnected from conductor 23 and relay 2'! releases. If at this timerelay 22 is being held operated because the wheel H has not completelyadvanced to the next position of rest, ground is not connected toconductor 29; but, if the wheel I! did complete the step, relay 22 hasagain released and the release of relay 2! completes a connection fromground at the back contact of relay 22, through the upper front contactof relay 24 and back contacts of relays 21 and 25, to conductor 29 toprepare the recorder for recording another item of information.

Thus on each complete step of wheel H, relays 25 and 21 are either bothoperated to affect the connection of ground to conductor 29 or are bothreleased to effect the connection of ground to conductor 29, thereby toprepare the recorder for operation to record another item ofinformation. If the wheel I l is not moved responsive to the operationand release of relay [9, relay 22 remains normal and in this case relay24 is not operated and ground is not connected to conductor 29 so thatthe recorder cannot be operated to record another item of informationwithout advance of the tape. If the wheel H moves out of one positionbut does not move a full step into the next position of rest, relay 22is held operated so that although relays 25 and 21 have both beenoperated or both released in the manner above described, ground is notconnected to conductor 29 and further recording is prevented.

It is to be noted that the wheel ll may be modified, as shown in Fig. 3,by substituting a commutator having alternate conducting andnon-conducting segments and a commutator brush in place of the raisedsegments i6 and contact springs l1, l8. The conducting segments 33 areconnected, through a feed ring 34 and brush 35, to ground; and, whilethe commutator brush 32 is in engagement with any interposition segment33, this ground is connected to conductor 3| to operatively energize theright winding of relay 22.

Other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit ofapplicants invention, the scope of which is set forth in applicantsclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a rotary mechanism having a plurality of positions ofrest and comprising means for advancing said mechanism one position at atime, a pair of contact springs closed while said mechanism isintermediate any two of said positions, a relay, a source of currentconnected in series with the winding of said relay and said contactsprings, and a condenser and resistor connected in series with saidwinding and source and in parallel with said contacts thereby to insurethe operative energization of said winding each time said contacts areclosed.

2. In combination, a rotary mechanism having a plurality of positions ofrest and comprising means for advancing said mechanism one position at atime, a pair of contact springs closed while said mechanism isintermediate any two of said positions, a relay, a source of currentconnected in series with the winding of said relay and said contactsprings, and a condenser and resistor connected in series with saidwinding and source and in parallel with said contacts thereby to insurethe operative energization of said winding each time said contacts areclosed, and means for locking said relay operated.

3. In combination, a rotary mechanism having a plurality of positions ofrest and comprising means for advancing said mechanism one position at atime, a relay, electrical contact means rendered effective by movementof said rotary mechanism from each of said positions for closing anenergizing circuit through the winding of said relay While saidmechanism is moving from each of said positions to the next, and meanscomprising a condenser and resistor connected in series with saidwinding to insure the operation of said relay each time said mechanismadvances from any one of said positions to the next.

4. In combination, a rotary mechanism having a plurality of positions ofrest and comprising means for advancing said mechanism one position at atime, a relay, electrical contact means rendered effective by movementof said rotary mechanism from each of said positions for closing anenergizing circuit through the winding of said relay while saidmechanism is moving from each of said positions to the next, meanscomprising a condenser and resistor connected in series with saidwinding to insure the operation of said relay each time said mechanismadvances from any one of said positions to the next, and circuit meansrendered eifective only in case said relay is operated and releasedresponsive to the movement of said mechanism from any one of saidpositions to the next.

5. In combination with a rotary mechanism having a plurality ofpositions of rest and comprising means including a stepping magnet foradvancing said mechanism one step at a time, a relay, means foroperating said relay responsive to movement of the mechanism out of eachposition of rest and for holding said relay operated until saidmechanism reaches the next position of rest, means for holding saidrelay operated for an interval of time sufficient for said mechanism tohave been advanced to the next position of rest, and means responsive tothe release of said relay following each operation of said relay.

6. In combination with a rotary mechanism having a plurality ofpositions of rest and comprising means for advancing said mechanism onestep at a time, a relay, means comprising a commutator and commutatorbrush for operating said relay responsive to movement of the mechanismout of any position of rest and for holding said relay operated untilsaid mechanism reaches the next position of rest, means for holding saidrelay operated for an interval of time sufiicient for said mechanism tohave been advanced to the next position of rest, and means responsive tothe release of said relay following each operation of said relay.

CHARLES F. SEIBEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,101,269 Pudelko Dec. 7, 19372,108,777 Mixer Feb. 15, 1938 2,178,112 Barker Oct. 31, 1939 2,233,533James Apr. 4, 1941 2,269,639 Swartzel Jan. 13, 1942 2,351,229 Potts June13, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 10,655 Australia Nov. 30,1927 78,322 Sweden Sept. 12, 1933

